Location
Orange Beach, AL
Start Date
28-2-2017 9:00 AM
Description
Rapid Sounder Removal™ is a time sensitive strategy where emphasis is placed on efficient removal of every sounder expanding at least 1,012 ha within 30 days of operation. The mission is to quickly and efficiently remove 100% of each individual sounder, on multiple properties, in the shortest time possible. Several Integrated Wild Pig Control strategies can be implemented in unison to eliminate wild pig escapes, education, and reproduction from large tracts of land at one time. This concept should be applied by all adjacent landowners to remove entire feral pig populations from a county, water conservation district, or wildlife management area at one time. In February 2016, 2 members of the Russell County, Alabama Soil & Water Conservation Committee requested wild pig control on approximately 1,214 ha of agricultural property. A single Hog Control Operator™ was hired to remove the total wild pig population from the property. The project eliminated 310 wild pigs (294 trapping and 16 thermal shooting) in 25 events (19 trapping and 6 thermal shooting). We recorded a 96.7% capture success rate deploying four M.I.N.E.™ Trapping Systems with 15.75 hours of trap construction labor. Two hundred and one feral pigs were removed during the first 28 nights of operation. Farmers, landowners, and land managers should weigh the relative cost and benefits of Rapid Sounder Removal™ when developing a large-scale wild pig control program.
Recommended Citation
Foster, Michael and Pinkston, Rod, "Rapid Sounder Removal: A Russell County, Alabama Wild Pig Control Project" (2017). Wildlife Damage Management Conference. 2.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wdmconference/2017/session3/2
Rapid Sounder Removal: A Russell County, Alabama Wild Pig Control Project
Orange Beach, AL
Rapid Sounder Removal™ is a time sensitive strategy where emphasis is placed on efficient removal of every sounder expanding at least 1,012 ha within 30 days of operation. The mission is to quickly and efficiently remove 100% of each individual sounder, on multiple properties, in the shortest time possible. Several Integrated Wild Pig Control strategies can be implemented in unison to eliminate wild pig escapes, education, and reproduction from large tracts of land at one time. This concept should be applied by all adjacent landowners to remove entire feral pig populations from a county, water conservation district, or wildlife management area at one time. In February 2016, 2 members of the Russell County, Alabama Soil & Water Conservation Committee requested wild pig control on approximately 1,214 ha of agricultural property. A single Hog Control Operator™ was hired to remove the total wild pig population from the property. The project eliminated 310 wild pigs (294 trapping and 16 thermal shooting) in 25 events (19 trapping and 6 thermal shooting). We recorded a 96.7% capture success rate deploying four M.I.N.E.™ Trapping Systems with 15.75 hours of trap construction labor. Two hundred and one feral pigs were removed during the first 28 nights of operation. Farmers, landowners, and land managers should weigh the relative cost and benefits of Rapid Sounder Removal™ when developing a large-scale wild pig control program.